CORN AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



BY H. R. HILTON. 



IF we have fairly ascertained the habit 

 of growth of the corn plant and the 

 conditions most favorable to its best de- 

 velopment, we can more intelligently adopt 

 methods of cultivation that will most 

 nearly supply these conditions. The 

 studies so far made in corn roots suggest 

 that the food gatherers love a finely-pulver- 

 ized soil well supplied with humus, in the 

 zone from the third to the tenth inch in 

 depth from the surface. In valley soils 

 containing sand this zone may be increased 

 to 12 to 16 inches in depth. As the sur- 

 face roots or food gatherers do their 

 principal work in the first 40 days of 

 growth, we are led to doubt whether all 

 the essential conditions can be supplied by 

 listing old corn ground each spring, and 

 preparing the soil for root growth while 

 the plant is growing. This method in- 

 volves heavy root pruning, or, in avoiding 

 this, leaves a small area of pulverized soil 

 for the feeding roots to work in. 



Assuming that all obstruction to free 

 entrance of water into the subsoil by use 

 of a subsoil plow (if such obstruction ex- 

 isted) has been removed, I would favor fall 

 plowing, about 8 inches deep, turning 

 under a green catch-crop of cow-peas, soy- 

 beans, Kaffir corn, or sorghum. If the 

 implement is not specially designed 

 for pressing the soil around the vegetable 

 matter turned under to gather the moisture 

 and start it rotting^ follow the plow 

 promptly with a disk h'arrow, and the disk 

 with a drill that admits of the shoe being 

 elevated so as to allow the wheels to sink 

 down into the loosened soil to the greatest 

 depth possible and pack the lower soil 

 while leaving the top soil loose. The 

 harrow should be passed over the ground 

 after every heavy rain till winter sets in, 

 to keep the top soil dry and prevent baking 

 of the surface soil and evaporation of the 

 water. In the spring open lister furrow, 

 keeping,if possible,above the layer of green 

 manure turned under the previous fall. 



In order to get as much of the butt end 

 of the stalk below the level of the ground 

 as possible so that more joints may be 

 covered and more circle roots developed, 

 care must be taken not to let any loose 

 irt roll into the furrow till after the plant 



*[In the Kansas Board of Agriculture Quarterly.] 



appears, as the first roots which form the 

 base of the stalk develop as near .the sur- 

 face as they can find moisture after the 

 first green leaf appears. Hence the 

 farther below the level of the ground the 

 first leaf comes through the soil, the longer 

 will be the section of the stalk below the 

 surface and the greater the number of roots 

 that can be developed. 



As the plant grows in the lister furrow 

 only the finest soil should be allowed to 

 sift in around it, till the ground is all 

 brought to a level, to facilitate the develop- 

 ment of new roots as new joints are formed 

 in the stalk and covered by the soil. If 

 the soil is very fine textured and warms 

 up slowly in the spring, or if the planting 

 is done very early in the season, then a 

 deep cultivation of the hill between the 

 rows may be helpful in warming the soil 

 to a greater depth, so as to make more 

 favorable conditions for root growth at a 

 greater depth, and prevent the first roots 

 from coming so close to the surface early 

 in the season, within the range of the 

 cultivator tooth. After the plant is six 

 inches high, and the soil warm enough for 

 root growth to a depth of one foot, the 

 cultivation should not exceed three inches 

 in depth, and should all be for the purpose 

 of drying out the top soil to conserve the 

 moisture. With many the object of culti- 

 vation is simply to destroy weeds, but if 

 the ground is promptly cultivated after 

 every rain there will be no weeds, as small 

 weeds cannot develop when the top soil 

 is kept dry for two inches in depth. In 

 wet seasons large cultivators may be needed 

 to destroy weeds, but for dry-soil mulch- 

 ing a small-toothed cultivator, or one with 

 narrow spring teeth, the points set well 

 forward, so as to cut the top soil clean 

 from the soil below, and to run shallower 

 beside the corn row than in the middle of 

 the furrow, will usually mulch the soil best. 

 The forward reach of the spring tooth 

 brings the clods and coarsest material to 

 the surface, and sifts the finest soil under- 

 neath, lessening danger of loss by the 

 wind, and leaving the surface roughened, 

 so as to break the force of heavy rain-drops 

 that tend to compact the surface, a con- 

 dition favorable to baking as it dries out. 



